Traveling crane



W. WOOD.

TRAVELING CRANE.

{No Model.)

No. 435,164. Patented Aug. 26, 1890.

INVENTOR wt fiflg f 7 ITNESSE UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

\(VALTER WOOD, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

TRAVELING CRANE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 435,164, dated August 26, 1890'.

Application filed July 21, 1890. Serial No 359,440. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, TALTER WOOD, of Philadelphia, in the State of Pennsylvania, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Traveling Cranes, whereof the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawing.

My improvement relates to the arrangement of the lifting-rope of the crane or that which carries the fall-block, and it may be combined with any suitable bridge-shifting and trolley-shifting devices, since these latter have no essential relation to the present invention.

The characteristic feature of my improvement lies in the fact that the lifting-rope, instead of terminating at a fixed anchoringpoint at the distant end of the line of ways or end opposite to that at which the power is applied to it, (which will hereinafter be referred to as the initial end of the line,) is brought back in continuityto said initial end of the line, said rope being freely supported at all points of its traverse back and forth. To distinguish this arrangement of the rope from those in which it terminates at the distant end of the line, I prefer to describe it as endless, and in its preferred form it is actually endless or continuous, and freely sup.- ported at the initial end also; but in using the term endless to describe it I do not necessarily limit myself to thislast mentioned method of arrangement.

The accompanying drawing shows a partial view of the bridge in perspective, illustrating the preferred method of arranging such an endless lifting-rope, its return from the distant end of the line being by way of the bridge and its return course being the correlative or counterpart of its initial course. In said figure only the lifting-rope and its actuating mechanism are shown, the trolleyshifting and bridge-shifting devices being omitted.

The bridge a is provided with rollers 1), adapted to run upon the ways Z) and the trolleyj is adapted to traverse the bridge from end to end upon rollers fin the usual manner. The bridge is provided at one end with two horizontal pulleys 0 0 preferably upon a common axis, and at the other end with two horizontal pulleys 0 0.

The trolley is provided in the instance shown with four verticalpulleys g, g, 9 and The fall-block leis provided with sheaves Z Z.

The actuating mechanism in the instance shown consists of a hydraulic cylinder N the pressure within which is controlled in any suitable manner, said cylinder being provided with a plunger N carrying at its outer end a pulley M The cylinder is also provided at or near its lower end with a pair of pulleys n 01 y The lif tin g-rope m is, in the instance shown, endless or continuous throughoutviz., not onlyin its circuit on the line, but at the actuating mechanism also. For convenience in description its course will be traced fromthe point .071, just after it has left the pulley n at the bottom of the cylinder. From said point the rope leads over a guide-pulley i, to and around the pulley t at the initial end of the line. Thence it passes to the bridge, which it enters by passing around the pulley c at the end thereof. Thence it leads to the trolley and passes down over the trolley-pulley g, to and around the sheave Z of the fall-block. Thence, rising again it passes over the trolley-pulley g and leads to the end of the bridge opposite to that at which it entered, passing awayaround the pulley c to the distant end of the line. There it leads around the pulley i crosses to the opposite side of the Ways, passes around a second pulley i at said distant end of the line, and returns to the bridge, which it again enters bypassing around the pulley c Thence it leads to the trolley, passes down over the trolley-pully 9 to and around the sheave Z of the fall-block, rises again over the trolley-pulley g and leads to the other end of the bridge. Thence it passes around the pulley 0 to the pulley i at the initial end of the line,where, after leading around a guidepulley f, it descends to and around the pulleyn at the bottom of the cylinder, rises over the pulley n at the top of the plunger, again descends, passing around the pulleyn at the bottom of the cylinder, and continues to the point m, at which its description commences. It is obvious that by the movement of the plunger in one direction or the other the rope m will be hauled in or paid out, and thus the fall-block is will be raised or permitted to descend, and since the rope is free not only at its points of connection with the bridge, trol ley, and fall-block, but also at its own points of support and guidance throughout the entire line, all unequal strain upon it will be prevented, as it can adjust itself in each direction under all conditions of use.

It will be observed that in the preferred form illustrated the lifting-rope passes twice along the bridge, making a double bight or loop around the fall-block, and is so applied to the bridge as that the strain thereof shall be rendered absolutely uniform and balanced. WhileI deem this the best arrangement of the rope, it must be understood that my invention is,not limited to this particular form. Thus the double bight around the fall-block is not essential, since the rope after returning to the bridge might traverse it directly without again descending to the fall-block. Nor is it essential that the rope should make the double traverse of the bridge, since after makinga single bight around thefall-block and vthence passing to the end of the bridge opposite-to that at which it entered it might be conducted directly or by way of the bridge itself to the distant end of the line, and after passing around its pulley there return directly to the initial end of the line. Such variations of the method of arranging the endless lifting-rope therefore do not aifect the underlyingprinciples of theinvention, it being-only necessary that the rope should lead from the initial end of the line to and along the bridge from end to end thereof, and thence lead to the distant end of the line, and again return therefrom in continuity, the course pursued by it within these limits being immaterial to its method of operation. .Furthermore, it will be observed that the method of operation would be substantially the same if the lifting-rope, instead of being actually endless, (or continuous at the initial end of the-line as Well as at the distant end,) should terminate at the actuatingmechanism either by direct attachment of the rope ends to a pair of-plungers or otherwise. It will therefore be. understood that in using the word endless in'the foregoing specification I de sire merely to indicate that the freely-slip ported lifting-rope returns in continuity to the initial end of the line and not necessarily that it is actually continuous at all points.

Having thus described my invention, I claim-- 1. In a traveling crane, the combination, with the bridge, trolley, and fall-block, of actuating mechanism and a lifting-rope leading from said actuating mechanism to the initial end of one of the ways, thence leading to one end of the bridge, thence to the trolley, thence descending to and around a sheave of the fall-block and rising thence to the trolley, thence passing to the end of the bridge opposite to that at which it entered, thence leading to the distant end of the line of ways, thence returning in continuity to the initial end of the-line of ways, and thence leading to the actuating mechanism, said rope being freely supported throughout its entire circuit over the line, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination, with the br'idge,,-trolley, and fall-block, of a hydraulic cylinder and plunger, a lifting-rope leading in continuity from said cylinder to the initial end of one of the Ways, thence leading to the end of the bridge, thence to the trolley, thence descending to and around a sheave of the fallblock and rising thence to the trolley,thence passing to the end of the bridge opposite to that at which it entered, thence leading to the distant end of the other way, thence returning to the end of the bridge at which it first entered, thence leading to the trolley, descending to and around a second sheave of the fall-block and, rising to the trolley,- thence leading to the end of the bridge at which it first left it, and thence returning to the initial end of the said second-mentioned Way and completing its circuit at the cylinder, said rope being freely supported throughout its entire circuit over the line, substantially as set forth.

WVALTER .WOOD. 

